There are a few scenarios for the world fish sector development, and I’d like to generalize them and tell about most likely trends as I can see it.

The first matter, that all who involved in fish business are concerned about, is how prices for fish and various fish products are going to change in a foreseeable future. Most trends show positive dynamics, and over the next decade prices are highly likely to grow faster compared with other food products.
However, faster development of fish farming along with more efficient technological processes in fishmeal production may lead to a minor drop in prices, especially through more active aquaculture expansion in developing countries. From this the next trend follows, the growth in fish farming. In the example of Russia’s fishing industry I can see that more and more fish production comes from aquaculture, so its share in worldwide production will be increased.
Third, total fish consumption by people in the developing countries will be increasing, while in the developed world the demand will remain on the current level. To a large degree this is because fish producers will respond to fish price increase by developing aquaculture production.
Fourth, fish and seafood exports from the developing countries, especially Russia, China, Vietnam, Korea and some others, will continue to rise, though at a lower level than presently. As I said in my previous posts, domestic demand for fish in exporting countries rises, and producers will most likely supply their local markets first.
However, there’re some other factors to consider that include new technologies, changes in laws and regulations, toughening of environmental requirements, etc.
If you have any thoughts and your personal views and opinions, don’t hesitate to share them on this blog!

About the author

Dmitry Fedotov
Dmitry Fedotov is a Director of Superocean, a Hong Kong based distributor of Pink Salmon, Chum Salmon, Alaska Pollock, Pacific Cod and other products directly from the fisheries in Russia. This blog's objective is to cover some major happenings in the Russian seafood industry, trends and facts.